Case Number 23572

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2011) (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

"What is hidden in snow, comes forth in the thaw." (FYI, this
statement has absolutely nothing to do with the film.)

Opening Statement

Much has been made of David Fincher and Steve Zaillian's adaptation of Stieg
Larsson's posthumously released novel (Men Who Hate Women). The 2009
Swedish film of the same name is spoken in both hushed reverent tones and loud
boisterous proclamations as one of cinema's most compelling achievements. So why
remake it? For the same reason there have been umpteen million productions of
any given Shakespeare tale: the artists behind them have something to say.

Facts of the Case

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig, Quantum of Solace) just got
his dick caught in the wringer. Attempting to take down smarmy billionaire
industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström (Ulf Friberg, Evil) using less
than reliable sources, he is sued for libel and loses. Publicly disgraced and
financially ruined, Blomkvist takes an unusual meeting with Henrik Vanger
(Christopher Plummer, The Sound of Music), respected businessman and
retired CEO of Vanger Industries. But this isn't a business meeting in the
traditional sense. Henrik wants to hire Blomkvist to investigate the unsolved
murder of his niece Harriet, who disappeared in the summer of 1965. Knowing full
well this award-winning investigative reporter would have little interest in
such a project, there's more at stake here than just a big fat paycheck. Henrik
is offering irrefutable evidence that will destroy Wennerström's career.
This shit just got real.

Relocating his life to the island of Hedeby, in the dead of Swedish winter,
Blomkvist finds himself playing Sherlock Holmes to a family as eccentric and
creepy as Dark Shadows' Collins clan, where everyone is a suspect.
Pouring over four decades worth of Henrik's own personal research, police
reports, and family history, Blomkvist quickly finds himself in over his head
and requests an assistant, who arrives in the form of Lisbeth Salander (Rooney
Mara, The Social Network), the anarchistic social misfit and brilliant
hacker responsible for vetting Blomkvist for this very job; and whose own
shocking personal backstory has been revealed to us in parallel.

As their journeys dovetail, the charged dynamic between Blomkvist and
Salander pays off in spades; peeling away years of Vanger family history to
reveal a truth far more disturbing than anyone ever expected. And just when it
appears everything has been figured out, we're reminded our protagonists still
have Wennerström to contend with.

The Evidence

The critical expectation in reviewing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
is to compare and contrast Fincher's vision with that of Niels Arden Oplev,
Steve Zallian's script with that of Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg, and
the performances of Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara with those of Michael Nyqvist
and Noomi Rapace. I'm not going to do that. You must forgive the moments where I
do inadvertently stray into that territory to illustrate a particular point, but
this adaptation of Men Who Hate Women has earned our full attention.

I didn't reach this mindset quickly or easily. Having first experienced
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo while suffering from pneumonia and being
overwhelmingly consumed by the visceral experience it turned out to be, I went
into this film with trepidation. Investing heavily in marketing anti-Holiday
cinema, drenched in Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' guttural score, one got the
feeling Sony was trying a bit too hard to one-up their Swedish predecessor. My
first time through Fincher's film left me perplexed, my brain working overtime
analyzing the myriad of differences and which team did it better. This wasn't a
screening, it was a competition. The second time, I viewed it through Fincher's
commentary, which had me hanging on every word. David comes across as an odd
duck in interviews clips -- much like Tim Burton does when talking about his
films -- but in the solitude of a screening room with nothing but the film and a
microphone, Fincher lays everything bare. I cannot adequately express how much
this information profoundly impacted my third viewing of the film. I can now say
with great confidence that there is no need to choose one adaptation of Larsson
over the other. Both films bring completely different energies and rewards to
the viewer and are equally respected for doing so.

Directors like Fincher, David Lynch, and the aforementioned Tim Burton have
particular traits that brand each of their films. David learned his trade
working for George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Madonna, and Michael Jackson. The
intense reaction one gets from watching films like Se7en, Fight
Club, and Panic Room are akin to tasering an exposed nerve. And
though his style has evolved through less subversive narratives like The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network, he still
knows how to push the buttons of an audience at just the right time. The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo is the best of Fincher old and new. At 158 minutes,
the film maintains a brilliant pace, slowing just enough to let us absorb the
exposition, then coldcocking us with steel pipe as we round a blind corner.
What's more, everything takes place in a hyper-reality, where the darkness of
humanity is awash in a schema of icy blues and noirish blacks, while the
fondness of memory is bathed in ripe oranges and shimmering golds. Masterfully
traversing this landscape, we're strapped to the hood of Fincher's car with no
escape; he controls the path, the speed, and the environment. And when the ride
is over, we catch our breath only for a moment before wanting to take the ride
again.

But this is not a one-man success story. Screenwriter Steve Zaillian has
reconfigured Larsson, stripping down Blomkvist and Salander to their bare
essentials and placing them on a new playing field, which enables different
choices to be made. Daniel Craig's Blomkvist is more professorial, in a
scattered heady way, playing against any expectation of Bondian instinct or
impulse. He stumbles through much of the film questioning why he's even there,
only to be lured in by a mystery that's way over his head. Rooney Mara's Lisbeth
is more complex, wearing her history like a well-worn jacket and reacting to
societal norms as a rabid injured animal. There is a brokenness about her that
only serves to enhance this journey. Christopher Plummer's Henrik is less
involved in the narrative, though no less powerful a presence. But the real
revelation here is Stellan Skarsgård, whose Martin Vanger (current CEO and
patriarchal heir) is so beautifully constructed and brilliantly performed that
he too was deserving of award recognition.

To analyze the experience or reveal more narrative detail would be doing
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo an injustice. This film deserves to be
viewed in a dark, quiet room, undistracted by family, friends, or technology.
Just know going in there are moments of base humanity which will unnerve you,
and allow yourself the right to full immersion.

Presented in stunning 2.40:1/1080p high definition widescreen, the stylized
presentation is exactly how Fincher intended. This may not be reference material
for technophiles, but every environmental and human flaw is exposed with
tremendous depth (both actual and perceived), and you cannot argue with the
results. Similarly, the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track offers up a dynamic sound
field, embedding us in this richly disturbing world. Every utterance from
dialogue to ambiance is precisely layered to evoke interest and emotion. Credit
the home video production team for their efforts in recreating the theatrical
experience.

Now to the best part of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
(Blu-ray)...the bonus features. There haven't been many "event
releases" in recent years, but Sony has done this one justice. My only
concern is that the navigation is quite manually intensive. Laid out as if we
are Lisbeth paging through the Vanger Industries documentation archives, we are
required to activate each and every feature individually. The experience would
have been better served with a "Play All" option, but I certainly
cannot argue with the astounding level of production detail we've been given
access too.

* Commentary -- Eluded to earlier, this is an experience unto itself
and demands your attention. (The only extra available on Disc One, and the only
extra at all on the DVD copy.)

* Men who Hate Women (7 min) -- Cast and crew talk about the novel,
the hesitancy of filming in Sweden where the original is considered a national
treasure, and the approach used in creating this adaptation.

Lisbeth Salander

* Casting Salander (16 min) -- Fincher, Rooney Mara, and costume
designer Trish Summerville discuss the intense casting process and how it wound
up benefitting the character and the film.

* Different in Every Way (6 min) -- A detailed examination of Lisbeth
from book to film.

* The Look of Salander (14 min) -- A look inside the transformative
process Rooney underwent to become Lisbeth.

* Mara / Fincher (4 min) -- A mutual admiration piece.

* Irene Nesser (6 min) -- The one aspect of shooting Rooney tested in
every way.

* Salander Test Footage (3 min) -- DV footage shot on and around the
LA subway to capture the essence of Lisbeth.

Mikael Blomkvist

* Casting Blomkvist (7 min) -- The first role cast, this piece
focuses more on Daniel's approach to the character and his world.

* Visual Effects Montage (8 min) -- It's the little things most
people don't notice that make the difference.

* Hard Copy (9 min) -- Viral video created to generate interest in
the film. As if it needed more.

* TV Spots (4 min) -- Seven commercials.

* Trailers -- Four trailers.

* Metal One Sheet (4 min) -- Creating the metallic poster art.

* Easter Eggs -- After nearly five hours of extras, I didn't have the
energy to track them down.

* DVD copy -- A bit controversial, as it was made to look like one of
Lisbeth's DVD-Rs. But the marketing gimmick backfired, as consumers thought they
had been ripped off. Personally, I thought it was a studio placeholder disc for
final product not yet available.

* Digital copy -- Are you registered with Ultraviolet yet? You'll
need to be to utilize it.

Closing Statement

This is art as God intended. Love it or hate it, our ability to create and
experience stories like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one of life's
great benefits. Excuse yourself from mindless television and internet surfing
for one night and take advantage of it. You won't regret the choice. And when
the film is done, immediately put in the Swedish version and experience the
story in an entirely different way.